Word Origin & History

campaign 1640s, "operation of an army in the field," from Fr. campagne "campaign," lit. "open country," from O.Fr. champagne "open country" (suited to military maneuvers), from L.L. campania "level country" (cf. It. campagna, Sp. campaña, Port. campanha), from L. campus "a field" (see campus). Old armies spent winters in quarters and took to the "open field" to seek battle in summer. Extension of meaning from military to political is Amer.Eng. 1809. The verb is first attested 1701. Related: Campaigned; campaigning.

Example Sentences for campaigning

We were by this time not enamoured of campaigning in any large degree, from our own experience of it.

A few weeks of campaigning, he said, would soon cure me of my squeamishness.

You understand my anxieties while he is campaigning with the King.

This she realized more fully than ever, when the excitement of campaigning was over.

Thirty days of campaigning leaves him as strong and fresh as ever.

Girls, in all our campaigning we haven't learned much, have we?

Somehow civilization palls on a man after years of campaigning.

"I feel as if I'd been campaigning with you all my life," said the khaki boy.